United Technologies boosts profit forecast for 2014

New York • United Technologies raised the low end of its 2014 forecast as the maker of Pratt & Whitney jet engines and Otis elevators beat analysts' second-quarter profit estimates.

Annual earnings will be in a range of $6.75 to $6.85 a share, compared with a previous projection of $6.65 to $6.85, the Hartford, Conn.-based company said Tuesday. Quarterly profit of $1.84 a share from continuing operations exceeded the $1.70 average of 11 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Chief Executive Louis Chenevert has reshaped United Technologies around its aviation and building services operations with the $16.5 billion purchase of aerospace supplier Goodrich Corp. and a move to combine the Otis elevator, Carrier climate-control and fire and security divisions into one unit.

Quarterly sales rose 7 percent to $17.2 billion, buoyed by demand for Otis elevators and commercial spare-parts orders at UTC Aerospace Systems, the aircraft-components unit that includes Goodrich. That trailed the $17.3 billion average estimate.

Equipment orders climbed 3 percent at Otis, including a 44 percent increase in North America.

"The U.S. market continues to show strength," Howard Rubel, a New York-based analyst at Jefferies LLC, said in an interview before earnings were announced. He recommends buying the shares.

Pratt experienced a pair of high-profile engine incidents during the quarter, including a May 29 fire that grounded the test fleet of new Bombardier Inc. CSeries jetliners. In June, an engine failure forced the F-35 fighter jet to stop flying and miss last week's Farnborough Air Show in England.

Reader comments on sltrib.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Salt Lake Tribune. We will delete comments containing obscenities, personal attacks and inappropriate or offensive remarks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. If you see an objectionable comment, please alert us by clicking the arrow on the upper right side of the comment and selecting "Flag comment as inappropriate". If you've recently registered with Disqus or aren't seeing your comments immediately, you may need to verify your email address. To do so, visit disqus.com/account. See more about comments here.